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Review: Samsung Galaxy J7 for Boost Mobile

Hardware Software Wrap-Up Comments 1

Every phone has a weakness, but the Galaxy J7's greatest fault came as a surprise to me.

The phone — which Boost Mobile is selling for $229 — is attractive, well-made, and functional as a piece of hardware. Many will appreciate the large screen and removable battery/memory. More importantly, the J7 delivers excellent battery life, above average call and data performance, and very good Bluetooth/GPS. These are clutch strengths.

The Marshmallow operating system and Samsung's TouchWiz software are familiar and functional. Each offers plenty of room to customize the handset and optimize its performance.

The J7's camera, however, really let me down. It's certainly not the worst camera I've ever used, but it is inconsistent enough that I'd never want to rely on it for the bulk of my shooting needs.

Boost is charging a reasonable price for this phone, though it sells several others in the same range (LG Stylo 2, iPhone 5s). If camera performance is critical to you, skip the Galaxy J7 and opt for the iPhone 5s instead. If you don't care that much about photography and value battery life and call/data quality more, then the J7 makes more sense.

Our Ratings

Overall

Reception

Battery Life

Hardware Usability

Hardware Quality

Display

Interface Speed

Audio Volume

Camera

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Samsung Galaxy J7 (2016, CDMA)

5.5" display HD+ resolution
Snapdragon 415 MSM8929 processor 2 GB RAM
3,000 mAh battery
Memory Card Slot, Headphone Jack (3.5mm), NFC

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